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Real Honeymoon: French Polynesia

I had the pleasure of working with a wonderful couple, Hersh and Poonam, to plan their dream honeymoon to French Polynesia. Hersh contacted me after reading my personal blog post and wanted to book a similar trip for his honeymoon.

Here’s what they have to say about their trip:

Where did you go on your trip?

We went to the French Polynesian Islands of Moorea and Bora Bora.

Le Meridien Bora Bora

How did you decide on those destinations?

We fell in love with the pictures we saw online and were convinced after hearing personal stories from friends who visited. We were debating between Bora Bora and Thailand and actually decided on Bora Bora because of the pictures and personal experiences posted on your blog!

Which hotel/resort did you stay at?

We stayed at The Sofitel on the island of Moorea and Le Meridian at Bora Bora. We absolutely loved Sofitel. We had amazing service there and the people were just very friendly and homely. It was a rather older group of tourists however. Mostly visiting for their anniversaries or retirement vacations. The bugs were also ruthless on Moorea.

Sofitel Moorea Garden Bungalow

Le Meridien and Bora Bora itself was just plain beautiful, but we did find that the people on this island were much more closed off. It definitely had more of a tourist-y feel to it. We found a few couples that we really enjoyed hanging out with, but for the most part, the service there was average, especially following the treatment we received at Sofitel. Our last night, we even managed to host a party on the beach with all the friendly honeymooners. We grabbed all our alcohol and took the ipad and speakers and really made a lasting impression as the fun couple of the resort! 🙂

Balcony at Le Meridien Bora Bora

What activities did you do?

Our entire trip was an adventure. We did everything from Kayaking in the oceans to ATV riding through the Island’s lush Tropical and Mountainous Terrains. Started the trip with swimming in the beautiful Reef at Moorea’s Sofitel Hotel. We took a lovely couple’s massage there followed by a private Spa Jacuzzi evening before a beautiful dinner at the Hotel’s restaurant. We rented a Vespa and traveled around the islands to beautiful spots to take pictures and adore the view. The ATV ride was my absolute favorite on Moorea. We were able to ride through the heart of the island to see the private Pineapple Plantations and the Volcanic Ring that once created the land.

ATV in Moore

At Bora Bora, we also had a couple’s massage, went snorkeling, kayaking, and canoeing, played volleyball, table tennis, smashball, and many other activities. Their main attraction is the Turtle lagoon which is amazing. We were able to swim with the turtles and many types of fish.

Turtle at Le Meridien

The weather worked in our favor for the most part. It did rain, crazy rain and thunderstorms, but nothing that did not contribute to the beauty and the experience. On one of the days, we were in the pool when it began to pour, and it was just beautiful to see the raindrops falling on the water.

Tips for future travelers:

– Lunch can be thrown off of timings because of all the activities, so to be safe, we would always make some PB&J sandwiches at the breakfast buffet as snacks through out the days.

– If you are staying at the Le Meridian and Intercontinental, the shuttle cost is around$60 round trip for two people every time you need to go to the main island or for an excursion. The Hilton, from what we found out was only about $9 per person.

– Bringing water bottle to fill up at the fitness center was a genius idea!

– When you arrive at Papeete to check into the connecting flight, there are Red Computer stations along the lines that you can print out your boarding passes for FREE. You do not have to wait in the hour (hour and a half) line to check your luggage in. This was pointed out to us by another traveling couple.

– Also, buy alcohol from the market or duty free, it is so much cheaper!!